Slow Learners

We wrap the first part of Gravity's Rainbow (chapters 18-21), which sees Pointsman getting lucky, Slothrop shipped off to the Riviera, and Roger and Jessica checking out a cheeky Christmas panto.

In this episode, we're joined by David Cowart, author of Thomas Pynchon and the Dark Passages of History and Thomas Pynchon: The Art of Allusion, to talk about the history of the postmodern novel, and how Gravity's Rainbow defines the form.

Other topics include: Chaucer, Joyce, Christmas Parties, if the British put a moratorium on German art during WWII, meta-narratives, Jerry Garcia, Weimar Germany, Marxists, the cult of the rocket, poster pasting, probability, the mechanical model of the human mind, Newtonian reality vs. Heisenbergian reality, entropy.

Read Proverbs For Paranoids, John's guide to Gravity's Rainbow.

E-mail us your questions, queries, and crackpot theories: [email protected]

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Leave us a voicemail by calling (609) 353-6873.

We continue our journey "Beyond the Zero," covering Gravity's Rainbow, Part 1, Chapters 14-17.

And: Alex Shephard (The New Republic) joins us to talk about literary hoaxes, Pynchonian mysteries, how Gravity's Rainbow scandalized the hoity-toity world of arts and letters.

Other topics include: S&M, prosthetic vaginas, church ceremonies, "The Book," by Pavlov, Thomas Pynchon's jump-shot.

Read ⁠Proverbs For Paranoids,⁠ John's guide to Gravity's Rainbow.

E-mail us your questions, queries, and crackpot theories: [email protected]

We get further into the weeds, covering Gravity's Rainbow, Part 1, Chapters 10-13.

We're joined by Stephen Kinzer, author of the Sidney Gottlieb biography ⁠Poisoner In Chief⁠ to talk about the history of military mind-control, and Project MKUltra.

Other topics discussed: toilets, jive accessories, having sex with a snake, racism, genocide, LSD.

Read ⁠Proverbs For Paranoids,⁠ John's guide to Gravity's Rainbow.

E-mail us your questions, queries, and crackpot theories: [email protected]

The season begins in earnest with this recap and discussion of Gravity's Rainbow, Part 1: Chapters 1-9.

We chat with Dr. Jordan Bimm, a historian of science and technology, about the history of the V-2 rocket, the Space Race, and the mystical/material dimensions of interstellar travel, Britain's most famous witch.

Other topics include: bananas, '50s monster movies, penis-as-dowsing-rod, low humour, Ulysses, etc., etc.

Read ⁠Proverbs For Paranoids,⁠ John's guide to Gravity's Rainbow.

E-mail us your questions, queries, and crackpot theories: [email protected]

We get further into the weeds, covering Gravity's Rainbow, Part 1, Chapters 10-13.

We're joined by Stephen Kinzer, author of the Sidney Gottlieb biography Poisoner In Chief to talk about the history of military mind-control, and Project MKUltra.

Other topics discussed: toilets, jive accessories, having sex with a snake, racism, genocide, LSD.

Read Proverbs For Paranoids, John's guide to Gravity's Rainbow.

E-mail us your questions, queries, and crackpot theories: [email protected]

Hallo Leute!

In this, intro episode of Slow Learners, hosts Asher Dark and John Semley lay out their ambition plan, or "plot": to read through Thomas Pynchon's massive 1973 Gravity's Rainbow, discuss it, and talk with experts about its themes and ideas, big and small, smart and stupid.

Topics this episode include: Prof. Irwin Corey, literary awards, Alice Tully Hall, preterition (and its meritorious price), being feted, Homer Simpson, Boeing, scrambled eggs, Oyster Bay High School, "The Boys," the character of Robert as played by Brad Garrett on the long-running CBS sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, They-Systems vs. We-Systems, hating books, etc., etc.

Read Proverbs For Paranoids, John's guide to Gravity's Rainbow.

E-mail us your questions, queries, and crackpot theories: [email protected]